Dear Queenscliff Parents and Carers,
Over the past week, our school has commemorated National Reconciliation Week. Students have been participating in lots of different learning activities this week with their teachers to learn more about First Nations culture, history and stories. It was wonderful to see such a big turn out of parents and carers last Tuesday for the Reconciliation Family Art Afternoon. Across the school students have been learning about Wadawurrung creation stories, art forms and storytelling, farming and agriculture practices as well as inspiring First Nations individuals who have made a significant contribution to Australia’s history and identity.
This year’s theme is ‘Bridging Now to Next’. It calls on all of us to reflect on historical truths from the past, acknowledge present realities, and work collectively towards a more united and respectful nation.
National Reconciliation Week is observed annually from May 27 to June 3, commemorating two significant events in Australia's history: the 1967 Referendum, which amended the Constitution to include First Nations people in the census, and the 1992 Mabo decision, which recognised native title rights. These dates serve as reminders of the importance of acknowledging past injustices and striving for a more inclusive future.
Victorian Education Excellence Awards
I would like to congratulate Mrs. Ebony Tannouri and Mrs. Jackie Morris who have both been nominated for the Victorian Education Excellence Awards for 2025. Ebony has been nominated for ‘Outstanding Early Career Teacher’ and Jackie has been nominated for ‘Outstanding Primary Teacher’. Both Ebony and Jackie are inspiring educators and leaders who go above and beyond to deliver high quality education programs for the students within their class, ensure all students feel valued and a strong sense of belonging, differentiate learning to cater to individual needs and have led school wide improvement initiatives in literacy, pedagogy and technology. We are extremely proud of you both and we wish you all the best for your nomination. I encourage our parent community when visiting our school, to pop in to congratulate both Jackie and Ebony for this achievement.
In addition to this, our school has been nominated for ‘Outstanding School Improvement’ by the Department of Education region staff and our parent community. We are absolutely delighted with this nomination. The nomination is a testament to the hard work, dedication, professionalism and eagerness of our school staff to enhance learning and wellbeing outcomes of all our students. Our school has observed transformative results with significant growth in student achievement data and wellbeing outcomes over the past 3 years. Congratulations to our students, teachers, education support staff, our leadership team and parent community.
Excellence Certificates
Congratulations to our Excellence Certificate recipients. Students were presented with their special Excellence Certificates at our assembly held on Friday 30 May, after earning 10 Excellence Stamps in their diaries. I was highly impressed by the number of students who received their certificates, reflecting the hard work, dedication and persistence of our students in classrooms.
Congratulations to the following Excellence Certificate recipients:
Prep | Frankie Burgess, Charlize Grainger, Margot Green, Jozie Murphy, Otis Gartland, Henry Bridges, William Denmead, Hailey Pettigrove, Oliver McVitty, Edison Lloyd, Marlow Citroen, Heidi Milne, Lucy Atkinson, Isabella Farr, Hamish Foott, Jordi Cvetkovski, Freya Arrieta |
Year 2 | Oliver Miller, Tas Monahan, Jimmy Ricciuti-Allen, Edie Green, Hussain Mushtaq |
3/4R | Heidi Kinsman, Maeve Tamblyn, Nienke Martino, Tom C |
3/4T | Hannah Rishton, Florence Gaylard, Alice Kinsman, Hazel Baker-New, Kim Gorgievski, Georgia Ward |
5/6C | Asher Clayden, Ravi Patel, Ella C, Perry Locke, Jai Vivian |
5/6H | Lenny Tuttle, Bahati Lund, James Rishton, Jarrah Stuart |
5/6T | Ruby Vistarini, Anouk Ulph, Elijah Brown |
New Entrance to School - Bellarine Rail Trail
Students and families will be able to enter the school grounds from the Bellarine Rail Trail, as indicated by the map below. The former entrance gates on Stokes Street will no longer be accessible for students and families to use. The greenhouse has been relocated to allow for the new entry next to the vegetable garden. Students who ride their bikes to school will be able to safely enter the school grounds from the Bellarine Rail Trail. Our school has made this change to optimise the safety of our students and school community. The new entrance will ensure students are not within close proximity to Stokes Street at pick up and drop off times. This decision was made following the school undergoing a risk assessment process, review and update of the school’s Traffic Management Plan and consultation with the Borough of Queenscliff Roads and Infrastructure Division.
We anticipate that the change will support students and families to safely enter and exit our school grounds.
Football and Netball Lightning Premiership
Congratulations to our Year 5/6 students who participated in the Lightning Premiership Football and Netball competition on Monday 26 May at Shell Road Reserve in Ocean Grove. We have 1 Football Boys team and 2 Netball Girls teams compete on the day against other schools on the Bellarine, including St Aloysius Primary School and Portarlington Primary School. Thank you to Mrs. Ebony Tannouri and Mr. Leigh Churchill for coaching our teams and running lunchtime training sessions in the lead up to the event. Thank you to Mrs. Melissa Fitzgerald for her outstanding leadership in organising the entire event for all of the schools. It was wonderful to see students from Matthew Flinders College and Bellarine Secondary College volunteer for the day to assist with umpiring and coaching. Thank you to Sylvia Tomkin (our former Business Manager) who volunteered to coach the Netball Blue team.
Our Netball Red team remained undefeated for the day and will go on to compete at Division Netball held on Thursday 19 June. Congratulations to the following Girls Netball Red team.
Annabelle Clingan | Willow Lund (injured) |
Winter Boyd | Olivia Warring |
Asher Clayden | Ruby Vistarini |
Mae Gorgievski | Loretta Boyd |
Kitty Britton | Nyah Lapham |
Parent Consent/Payment on Compass
Over the past term, we have noticed an increase in families not providing consent on Compass for incursions or excursions in a timely manner. As a school, we always aim to provide families with notice for excursions and events, including through the parent calendar provided at the beginning of each term. In addition to this, events are posted on Compass well in advance of the date to allow time for families to provide consent and make payment. More recently, our school staff have had to follow up families with email reminders and phone calls on the day of the excursion/incursion to follow up consent and payment. If consent/payments is not provided before the day of the incursion/excursion, it can have direct impacts on the planning of the event (e.g. booking of buses, number of staff attending, supervision). In addition to this, it adds a significant workload to our school staff having to follow up parents/carers on the day of the event.
Moving forward, I would like to encourage families to ensure consent/payment for incursions and excursions is completed in a timely manner on Compass. Please do not leave it until the day of the event. Our school will provide email reminders to families in the days leading up to the event. However, phone calls home to parents/carers on the day of the event seeking consent/payment will no longer occur. If consent/payment is not provided by the due date outlined on Compass, students will not be able to participate in the scheduled event and other arrangements will be made for your child at school on that day. Thank you for your support.
Victorian High Ability Program
Congratulations to Amelia Miller and Suhani Kheni who completed the Victorian High Ability Program in Term 1 for English. Amelia and Suhani were presented with their certificates at Friday’s assembly.
Year 2 Arcare Performance
Next Friday 13 June, our Year 2 students will be venturing to Arcare in Point Lonsdale to perform for the elderly residents. This will provide our students with an opportunity to build new connections, showcase their creative talents and to ‘give back’ to our community by making the day of local residents.
Raising Resilient Kids Parent Workshop - Lisa Taylor
Last Thursday 29 June, we had Lisa Taylor deliver an engaging workshop to parents on building resilient kids. Lisa explored topics related to what is resilience, what are barriers to fostering resilience and how to support your child develop the capacity to be more resilient in the face of daily challenges. Lisa provided families with specific strategies to support children in building skills to be more resilient, adaptable to change and optimistic. Thank you to the parents who attended the workshop.
Shrek Student Market Day
On Thursday 12 June, our Year 5/6 students will be hosting a Shrek-themed Student Market Day. Students have been working hard to plan and create products and games to sell at the Market Day. Some of the stalls include food, perfume, games, gadgets and crafts. All funds raised will go towards the QPS production of Shrek Jr, including costs related to lighting, costumes, props and music. Families are invited to attend the market day from 2:00-3:00pm. All students in Foundation to Year 4 will have an allocated time to visit the market in the afternoon.
Queenscliff Market
Last Sunday 25 May was the final Queenscliff Market for the 2024/2025 market season. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our parent volunteers, families and students who have assisted with the market throughout this period. Your support in volunteering at the market makes a significant difference to stall holders, the operations of the market on the day and ultimately its success. The Queenscliff Market has become a pillar of the community, and I know many locals and tourists to our town thoroughly enjoy visiting the markets on a Sunday morning to celebrate all things hand grown and handmade. The Queenscliff Market is a major fundraiser for our school, and we are grateful to families for giving up their time on weekends to ensure the market runs smoothly. This year the market has raised in excess of $20,000 for the school. These funds go towards purchasing new learning resources, school playground improvements, grounds and garden projects, technology resources and special opportunities for students across the school, including the recent GRIP Student Leadership conference.
I would also like to extend a huge thank you to Lisa Golightly who has been the lead coordinator of the market. Lisa’s contribution to ensuring the success of the market has been momentous. She liaises with stall holders, manages payments, organises volunteers and rostering, and attends every market for the entire day to provide support where needed. Thank you Lisa.
As this is Lisa’s final year as a parent at our school, she will be passing on the baton in leading the Queenscliff Market to Richard Fewster and Fred Rhoads to form a new committee. We are seeking 1 or 2 more parents to support Richard and Fred in this role. If you are interested, please email me directly at mathew.mcrae@education.vic.gov.au . Remember, many hands make light work for all and we would appreciate support from our parent community to ensure the success of the Queenscliff Market into the future.
King’s Birthday Public Holiday and Curriculum Day
This coming weekend is the King’s Birthday Public Holiday on Monday 9 June. Our school has a Curriculum Day for school on Tuesday 10 June. On this day, teachers will be engaging in professional development and reviewing assessment data for mid year student reports. Students will not be required to attend school on Tuesday 10 June. Students will resume school on Wednesday 11 June.
Assembly
Our next assembly will be held on Friday 13 June 2025. Parents, carers and community members are invited to join us for this special celebration whereby we will have 3/4T, 5/6T and Performing Arts showcasing their learning.
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend school camps, excursions, and sports and outdoor education programs. Families holding a valid means-tested concession card may apply, applications must be submitted to the school by 4 July 2025.
School Council
Our next School Council meeting is scheduled for Monday 23 June 2025. I look forward to meeting with our School Council to discuss school operations, upcoming events and financial planning for the school. If you have correspondence or feedback you would like to provide to the School Council, parents and carers are invited to email our School Council President, Daniela Sayegh at daniela.sayegh@education.vic.gov.au .
Nyatne baa Gobata
(Thank you and take care)
Mat McRae
Principal
